Politics is a factor which has significant impact on the economy, culture, foreign policy of a state, so we also call the core of a state is the politics. For instance, the 18th Municipal People's Congress opened in the People's Hall on 8 No v.2012,which means the change of Chinese politics.
America is same as china. In the election of American President, Barack Hussein Obama beat his competitor-Willard Mitt Romney, the representative of Republican Party and became the president of the USA. There is no doubt that the strategy including politics, economy, diplomacy will keep the heel with Obama. Maybe what I say is too absolute, after all,America is more democratic than China.
Now, let’s turn to this movie. From my viewpoint, the movie about FBI or CIA must be excellent and impenetrable, which costs me a lot time to understand it. Actually, I hope this movie is a movie that can’t be missed.

Can not understand where the Economist gets and twists its liberal info. They point out that there was no information that the US delayed action to rescue our ambassador despite numerous emails to the contrary. Indeed, this was the biggest point of contention with what happened in Benghazi . We had fast reaction troops and airpower 35 minutes away but chose to watch the fight by video and even ordered one navy seal that was there and lost his life to stand down. Why do you continue to publish such lies when there is
no question what so ever by either Democrats or Republications. Why do you think we have more than a month of various congressional investigations as to why we did not even attempt to rescue them. We also factually had numerous US service personnel in the area who were instructed not to do anything so as to protect there undercover status. Please inform your readers why you, like the White House, continue to spew false info. Are you insinuating that you know more about the attack than our investigators in Congress. At least try to be credible. Hopefully, you are not owned by MSNBC.

If you are asking me as to why the Economist did not include any reference to the comments that I made which they declined to make available, I can't say specifically.
The information I presented is factual beyond a reasonable doubt. The Congressional investigations are continuing with nothing conclusive other than the cover up is getting deeper. Rice maintains that she just read from the talking points given her yet the panel found out that the so called talking points had been changed. No one in the Administration knew who did it. One week Clapper swore to the panel that he did not change them but as everything kept moving closer to the president himself, the next week he admitted that he was the one that changed the talking points. The investigation continues as it it is clear to everyone that this was a preplanned terrorist attack. The administration later changed their story to indicate they didn't tell the truth because it would possibly lead to classified into being made public, something that is done on a weekly basis by most congressmen who tell this info to the journalists to quote that it came from an anonymous source. This is just as illegal and these people who do this stuff should are breaking the law and should be investigated, tried, and jailed. I was a former
Air Force Security Officer so I know what I am talking about. It is just sickening as to where this country is going.

One can't criticize Rice without being called a racist but she knew what happened and lied based on someone's change to the talking points. So to me the question becomes do you read lies or tell the truth. You decide. She has subsequently been discovered to have participated in an almost an identical incident in Kenya some years earlier. Like wise, they were also told that we had no means to increase their security.

It has also come out that she has millions of dollars invested in Canadian banks and pipelines in which she would be rewarded immensely if approved....which would come from the Secretary of State which Obama wants it to be her. This is also terribly illegal.
Why this is not at the top of media and major newspaper reports is because most papers are to liberal and will do anything to protect the President. I do not know if the Economist has reported this either since they are extremely liberal and endorsed Obama. I guess they
believe that radical socialism as in much of Europe is the way the world should br run...
or at least there is no one left to bail out Greece, Europe and the US. Then China will one us.

If you are asking me as to why the Economist did not include any reference to the comments that I made which they declined to make available, I can't say specifically.
The information I presented is factual beyond a reasonable doubt. The Congressional investigations are continuing with nothing conclusive other than the cover up is getting deeper. Rice maintains that she just read from the talking points given her yet the panel found out that the so called talking points had been changed. No one in the Administration knew who did it. One week Clapper swore to the panel that he did not change them but as everything kept moving closer to the president himself, the next week he admitted that he was the one that changed the talking points. The investigation continues as it it is clear to everyone that this was a preplanned terrorist attack. The administration later changed their story to indicate they didn't tell the truth because it would possibly lead to classified into being made public, something that is done on a weekly basis by most congressmen who tell this info to the journalists to quote that it came from an anonymous source. This is just as illegal and these people who do this stuff should are breaking the law and should be investigated, tried, and jailed. I was a former
Air Force Security Officer so I know what I am talking about. It is just sickening as to where this country is going.

One can't criticize Rice without being called a racist but she knew what happened and lied based on someone's change to the talking points. So to me the question becomes do you read lies or tell the truth. You decide. She has subsequently been discovered to have participated in an almost an identical incident in Kenya some years earlier. Like wise, they were also told that we had no means to increase their security.

It has also come out that she has millions of dollars invested in Canadian banks and pipelines in which she would be rewarded immensely if approved....which would come from the Secretary of State which Obama wants it to be her. This is also terribly illegal.
Why this is not at the top of media and major newspaper reports is because most papers are to liberal and will do anything to protect the President. I do not know if the Economist has reported this either since they are extremely liberal and endorsed Obama. I guess they
believe that radical socialism as in much of Europe is the way the world should br run...
or at least there is no one left to bail out Greece, Europe and the US. Then China will one us.

Preposterous. Furthermore the best way to distinghish from genuine pearls and fake pearls is to check if they come in different shapes and sizes. Fake pearls tend to look similar and are rather smooth, but real ones are irregular and gritty.

Rumors abound that Petraus was "outed" because some in the White House wanted to deflect the blame for Benghazigate (which doesn't want to go away) to CIA.

However, now members of the Senate's Intelligence Committee also want to know why they were kept in the dark about FBI's investigation, and why, although it was going on for months the fact was not revealed earlier, but only AFTER the presidential election.

and yet another example of "ThePleasurePrinciple" at work. The Reality Principle indicated that the opportunity may have not been there for the taking by deferring it and weighed against the alternative, the Pleasure Principle kicked in for Petraeus and he took the bait. The id is the driving force in everything--it's just a series of tradeoffs and some smoke and mirrors that hold it back. Economists that always keep this in mind are better at predicting behavior and can help in better policy-making.

I believe the crime being punished here is not adultery but Criminal Stupidity. Apparently the adulation of a fawning America went to the guy's head so completely that he reckoned the normal rules of discretion and caution no longer applied to him.

Personally, I do not care where this man sticks his junk. The only question should be whether he did his job or not AND whether or not his actions compromised national security. My guess is that it did not.

damn. who the f cares who he f. he did his job did he not? all of a sudden the facts no longer exist?! tonight the u.s. news media bitched he was distracted by sex with mistress: oh, so sex with his wife would not distract from his work? what difference does it make who he f?

amazing that the world's superpower that took over the soviet union, now crumbles on a single man's dick. does the Patreus Dick shoot come with missiles?

when are we going to mature as a nation & focus on solving our debt, economy, unemployment, education, infrastructure and countless other issues, including the West's worst crime rate, instead of worrying about the Petraeus dick or Clintonian blowjob?!

if we keep up this absurd prudish holyroller attitude as a nation of hypocritical moral mickey mice instead of grow up & think beyond our pricks, focus on real issues, real life, we'd get out of our problems, and they are Big!

it's sickening how much time & tax $ are spent on stupid frivolousness vs solutions to essential issues. we are fools to believe we are a free country if so much of our energy is wasted, hogged by trivialities, leaving us with nothing else inside to deal with, psychologically, financially, emotionally, spiritually etc.

anyway, can we for instance focus on helping with the other bitch, Sandy now. we can always return to that sex scandal later, but who cares & why? don't we have better things to do in life except gossip?

Thank you iRolf but, it would be offensive to Ostriches to suggest we are equal or above the wavelength of them based on our television habits. We need a new party, someone that does not applaud and reinforce our inanity.

Speaking of funny, I have little patience for these elected fools anymore, beyond their humor factor. I mean if you are gonna have them around for 4 whole years, you need something good to come out of it, right?

So let's examine their usefulness....

Clinton was great for bawdy humor and what better to play off of, then his fantastic penultimate act, deregulating sex. He opened the show like a pacifist Andrew Dice Clay, and closed it maybe more like an evening with Red Foxx. It's not for me but the comedic greats or great historians to write his history. Too bad Hictchens passed before writing his comedic epitaph, I know he had a special place in his heart for him.

GW was great for belly laughs in a sort of Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy way, sometimes being both at once, with that duality of pain ala Hardy, and confusion ala Stan, in his eyes after each and every gaffe or miscue. Ah, but the subtle slapstick of shoe dodging or even the mindful malapropos, could flummox even the best comedic talent of recent memory. He was no Groucho, Chico, Harpor, not even a Zeppo. He was a classic stooge and truly a genius!

Obama was odd in that it was either a quick snicker or a long and torturous, Julie Taymor jeremiad that you thought was going somewhere but ended up more out of date then Mark Russell or Lewis Black and more akin to beating yourself in the head with a hammer full of saccharine from NPR's "Wait Wait Dont Tell Me". He is a much better straight man in my opinion, actually a really good straight man and Biden the true modern day Costello. But I am just talking presidents and not the men behind the men.

So, in my book, Mr Obama was the least successful of the last 20 years. Romney had laughs, big laughs, huge laughs, he had the meter pegged, you have to admit that! But alas 2012 has passed, though sooner than we think, 2016 will be here and our quadrennial sojourn will be over and we will all salute and hail our new clowned prince. :)

2. we must admit, we are at least 180° off our founding father's idealism, and that though we preach and police the world about democracy & freedom we haven neither, we're totally lost, now.

3. we must see that we're the 1st modern Western nation that has reached Decadence, and recognize ourselves as not as smart as the Ancient Greeks or Roman Civilizations - hence we can't fix this...the only way to fix our economical/political/cultural problems with education/inventiveness/vision/infrastructure/crime etc. is to recognize we're at the stage of Decadence so we can Restart Society, Reboot our Country, from scratch! Think Different™ as Apple says.

4. we're the most dogmatic country in the world. we mock muslim fanatics, but our 3000+ divisions of the Christian faith is as bad as uniting 3000+ indian cultures. it won't work. as european originals we wanted religious freedom yet we ended up tearing each other apart into Fragmendroid-like chaos (Google Android) and no solidarity. thus we compete even at inter-departmental government levels and 911 happened. our jingoist mentality: more homes in america than any other country worldwide puts up our flag, as if we forget daily who/where we're from, brainwashing us into patriotism, when we do not understand the meaning of patriotism.
real patriotism is not raising flag or blindly adhering to the american way of life, which we arrogantly think is worthier than any other country's, just like an infallible religion. meanwhile, we alienate the entire world with our total spoilt arrogance. our currency mentions we fight wars abroad in the name of God, as if we're Chosen People. all this makes us fanatics. legal terrorists who police the world about freedom yet have none since we're the most watched/tapped/recorded population on earth. meanwhile, also, our justice system has so many loopholes, it encourages, breeds, festers crime, corruption and punishes law-abiding citizens. the American Dream is increasingly more our Nightmare as liberties and the pursuit of happiness ain't happening. we accept it all in blindly, fanatically.
we punish a teen who doesn't stand up in high school to the national hymn. so our nation's sovereignty, might, crumbles at one kid's non-generic act?! wow. how mighty small we think. how silly. how fanatic again. just as fanatically as we think of our flag touching the floor: it's as blasphemous as the worst religion.
democracy led by religion, not secular statehood?!
then of course, we lost the right to expression, as we're immediately labeled unpatriotic or politically incorrect, when it is our patriotic right & duty to constantly question the morality & justice of our original ideal constitution, as we thus keep it in check, as opposed to blindly accepting all the b.s. & corruption. whose more patriotic in this sense-the "rebel" or the "dummy"?! the dummy majority will always respond with the pathetically oversimplified simpleton response: "don't like it here, leave". as if that solves the entire problem. we're so unreal, superficial, we think of life as Disneyland, with no sense for reality, only living in fantasy, thinning that everything is fixable by clicking buttons or using the remote.

5. no president has ever or will ever be anything but a marionette pulled into every direction by interest groups. we need not just a new party. a new constitution. we need cojones. vision. we can't waste billions in elections that should fix infrastructure or education. we can't live & work in fear. we have to stop labeling & categorizing everything in black & white, good or evildoers. we can't fear every foreigner. we have to grow up. let's stop embarrassing ourselves with our naiveness & silliness. american baseball is not a world series, only a national one, american football is handball, so let's hand over the name to its originator again, what we now call soccer, etc. we have to quit this arrogance, be more diplomatic. stop wasting most of our hard-earned tax dollars on israel by the trillions or wasting our own kids on foreign wars that do not secure our sovereignty or bring us any advantages, besides grief, opening cans of worms, pandora's boxes and festering terrorism.

enough is enough. let's face it, let's grow up. get a life.
if life's a bitch, let's not be stupid, let's f' her.
meaning, let's fight back, take back our government, it's our democratic right, right?!
this is the ultimate test of democracy!
it's our chance to now make a difference.
does our democratic freedom & choice allow us to change things?
let's see.

The point is we are a country of spoiled children. As my business partner says, Nothing ever changes til the pain exceeds the pleasure. The younger kids today are already being prepared via the zombie-slave indoctrination thru our schools and universities. We are losing our interdependent thinkers and innovators and teaching kids to only mimic tasks. That is it.

Teach them that the world is small, never let them know there is anything else and like a house cat, they are content in their house because they have never been outside and never experienced anything else.

I wrote this big response but it refreshed and I lost everything. I agree with most of what you said. We have definitely lost our way and as my business partner says, "Nothing every changes until the pain exceeds the pleasure"
Im not sure we havent already started going off the cliff IM not sure we can get back at this point. When more people are collecting government cheese and paying for it, its hard to change that mindset.
I leave with a quote of what we have lost, from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "You want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
We have lost our passion and it will take something quite large to get it back. I am hoping for a depression, which I do think is inevitable and will stick everyone in the middle of reality

Where have you been? TE blogs were getting to be way too predictable and seriously not amusing at all. I do wish you you would have taken the trouble to get on TE blogs sooner. The demented partisan hooey before the election was getting really disturbing - from both ends of the political spectrum. Welcome fellow Till Eulenspiegel...

I agree with everything you say but I would like to hear more from you in the future but the moderator's could easily not publish your comments because of the f language. I had a comment removed for no reason than disagreeing with another writer who was the violator.

I agree with everything you say but I would like to hear more from you in the future but the moderator's could easily not publish your comments because of the f language. I had a comment removed for no reason than disagreeing with another writer who was the violator.

Everything you say is correct. However, saying this in today's America is like calling out to the deaf in the middle of a desert. The country is entirely lost in its superstitions, phobias, and ignorance yet it's the most greedy and conceited place on the planet...

I wonder if all this about affairs, x-rated emails will hurt David Petraeus's and John Allen's chances of getting a battleship or a government building named after them. Don't you think Bill Clinton could rehabilitate them, and maybe some day they can run for prez of the U.S.?

He sounds like the right man to run for U.S. President in 2016. He seems to have what it takes except for one important factor that is missing: We just need to find out if he ever did crack, crank, weed,or mushrooms. If he did, then he's well on his way to being President of the U.S. for 2016!

Of course you are right. Not only Mr. BetrayUs must be prosecuted. He must be stripped of his rank, pension, and medical benefits and chemically castrated for all of us to rejoice:))) By playing with his dick in public this four-star jerk made all of the US of A look like a bunch of oversexed pricks which is exactly what you are. But this secret must have been kept SECRET, and now look - the whole world is laughing its pants off at the last Empire of Evil on Earth:))) All of top US officials must be taught the art of quiet masturbation (if they are hetero) OR be gay. Period.

There is no evidence that he lied or did anything dishonorable. He did not use good generals in having the affair but there is absolutely no law in doing so. As head of the CIA, he was no longer in the army and could have a harem if he wanted to. If we are should dishonorably discharge and prosecute him as a governmental official and then applied the same rules of being a liar....then we have a responsibility to go after most of the administration, starting with Obama.

Sir; I remain unconvinced that this all is not the results of an unethical leadership within J. Edgar Hoover's Outhaus, aka FBI, that permitted an unreasonable search and seizure private property and let it continue without one of iota of justification.

The destruction and pain it created upon its victims would surely draw applause to the likes of Murdoch who can be expected to use such activities against his political targets in the future.

If you wrote a want ad for Petraeus's position, this is what it should look like:

DIRECTOR, CIA. The successful applicant will have mastery of counterinsurgency operations; the ability to adapt strategy to conditions on the ground; the ability to inspire trust and loyalty in both the rank and file and military and political leaders, in this country and outside it. Send resume to B. Obama, 1500 Pennsylvania Ave., D.C.

But it seems this is what the military is really looking for:

WANTED: Heterosexual family man, Christian, Jewish, or Mormon, with stable home life. No extramarital affairs or odd hobbies. Prior intelligence experience preferred.

Anyone else finding it odd the guy in charge or privvy to much national security grade top secret information was out-manoeuvred by 2 chicks and an FBI agent?

Maybe I've been living with Obama these last few years and watching too many re-runs of "24", "Homeland" and "Boardwalk Empire", but why did the CIA, any other 3-letters of the alphabet, or even a politician not contain this story on the grounds of national security?

Let's be pragmatic and say "they" do it with virtually everything else - wikileaks and videos of US aircraft being involved in friendly fire incidents show us the reflex action of any intelligence agency, General, soldier or White House spokesman is to deny, provide mis-information and "neutralise" the flow of sensitive information.

The moment an investigation involving the director of the CIA was approved, those close to the Director and the President were cognizant of what was transpiring. It is certain these men had the opportunity to inform both Director and President (or maintained plausible deniability by resolving the situation in favour of Director/President without their knowledge).

Forget the questions of who was sleeping with who, which in general are not pertinent to national security, and start asking why this was allowed to come to light, who knew what when and who stood to benefit?

According to INSCOM (Intelligence Security Command), the Military Intelligence Corp (MI) has a well-defined mandate:

"The primary mission of military intelligence in the United States Army is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence and electronic warfare support to tactical, operational and strategic-level commanders. The Army’s intelligence components produce intelligence both for Army use and for sharing across the national intelligence community"

Clearly, as the TE article suggests, David Patraeus and his military, humanitarian and economic strategies are important to the US in several temporal theatres of war. These MI guys were the second people to hear about Petraeus (assuming FBI were first) and they are mandated to inform "strategic-level commanders" (i.e. generals) and the "national intelligence community" (i.e. CIA/NSA/FBI/ATF etc). So it's beyond doubt Patraeus, his peers, the Army and select Congressmen knew about the situation well in advance of the media.

Who pushed Patraeus under the bus and why? Forgive me for being so crass but what relevance does infidelity have on operational command of the CIA or even the White House? None IMO. I found the President's language precise and intriguing in conferences yesterday when he seemed to suggest Patraeus came to him, explained the situation and outlined the reasons for tendering his resignation, with the President using Patraeus' own logic as the basis for his executive decision.

I disagree with the TE author's assessment that Patraeus may not be missed. I believe the military is short on progressive thinkers and that American politics is short on command experience and military acumen. Losing Patraeus will damage the credibility of the CIA and its on-going mandate of drone strikes. I personally believe it is important to graphically illustrate to enemies of democracy that if they push the boundaries of humanity in either their own country or the west, the west is prepared to respond with a lethal force which is less concerned with diplomacy and international law than the regular Army and its rules of engagement. Who knows what the heck the CIA gets up to behind closed doors. It is exactly this politically convenient deniability which enables the CIA to carry out functions vital to western (not just US) national security. I think it would be a shame if the Army took over the CIA's mandate and was burdened with media scrutiny and international laws while attempting to fight a disperse, intelligent, righteously indignant and ruthless enemy.

Anyone who approves the "mandate of drone strikes" is as guilty of murder as the assassins who carry them out. Hopefully one day the assassins and their superiors will be brought to justice. Any US military who take part in this program are as guilty as the murderers they have no honor and their souls are forfeit.

Drones don't rape, steal or participate in fratricide or matricide of innocent peeps. Drones only kill evil terrorists and those evil peeps who are tied to terrorists either directly or indirectly. Since some terrorists, I imagine, are moms and pops; then they'll liquidate those peeps as well-- evil moms and pops. People who don't support drones, support evil and all the badness in the world. :P

So drone strikes is murder? You obviously believe that we should lose hundreds of our solders to accomplish the same mission....and that there would not be civilian casualties. Amazing. Moreover you are suggesting as well that our military are assassins and should be brought to justice. Unbelievable comment.

So drone strikes is murder? You obviously believe that we should lose hundreds of our solders to accomplish the same mission....and that there would not be civilian casualties. Amazing. Moreover you are suggesting as well that our military are assassins and should be brought to justice. Unbelievable comment.

So drone strikes is murder? You obviously believe that we should lose hundreds of our solders to accomplish the same mission....and that there would not be civilian casualties. Amazing. Moreover you are suggesting as well that our military are assassins and should be brought to justice. Unbelievable comment.

I have just been flagged by the spam filter and told to modify my comments. Guess the Economist agrees with out.

Give me a break. I'm supposed to believe that the head of the CIA resigned because authorities learnt of his affair with his wife? Since when does cheating on your wife affect your job? Especially if you’re the head of the CIA (one of the most powerful people on the planet.) Wouldn’t he just have gotten a divorce, lost the house and kids, and then paid child support? Why would he then quit his job? (His wife might even have forgiven him.)

It’s much more realistic that powerful people wanted him gone, they dug up dirt and black mailed him or whatever. This ‘affair’ story might just be the public explanation for his departure (or maybe it was a small part of the rest of the blackmail).

So was this the Republicans trying to tarnish Obama’s name? Or is this Obama ousting a pro Israeli CIA chief? (It appears as though the CIA has been in bed with the mossad for 50 years now)

Cheating on your wife affects your job in any job at which such cheating is explicitly a firing offense. Working for the CIA is one of these. I'm sure it's also not allowed to run up gambling debts, not for the moral conundrum, but for the leverage.

Bill Clinton, Jack Kennedy cheated on their wives, and they are adored by millions. Some historians and politicians consider Clinton and Kennedy to be among the greatest U.S. presidents ever. Kennedy said he needed some booty call every now and then or else he gets horrible headaches....

For the life of me, I cant even begin to understand why people care about this stuff. Just like with Clinton, although in Clinton's place at least it was the president and the cigar episode occurred right in the Oval Office.But for any other politician, I think this stuff should remain private, unless the politician pursposely wants the world to know about it, like was the case of Wiener and his winnie. Other than that, this is stupid.